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Renee Hardman wins Iowa State Senate Seat (Original Post) Norbert 7 hrs ago OP
The special election they scheduled during the effing holidays???? tanyev 7 hrs ago #1
K&R ....n/t CaliforniaPeggy 6 hrs ago #2
Well done. littlemissmartypants 5 hrs ago #3
Good. LoisB 5 hrs ago #4
Non geo-blocked link: Celerity 4 hrs ago #5
Sweet. She garnered 71.4% of the vote. Ellipsis 4 hrs ago #6
Excellent BlueWaveNeverEnd 2 hrs ago #7
Precursor to 2026? Norbert 12 min ago #8
Kick dalton99a 10 min ago #9

Celerity

(53,589 posts)
5. Non geo-blocked link:
Wed Dec 31, 2025, 02:50 AM
4 hrs ago
Democrats retain Iowa Senate seat in West Des Moines after special election

Republicans will not have supermajority in upcoming session

https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/12/30/democrats-retain-west-des-moines-iowa-senate-seat-following-special-election/

Renee Hardman, a West Des Moines council member and president and CEO of Lutheran Services in Iowa, won a special election Tuesday for Iowa Senate District 16, according to unofficial results.

Hardman’s win means Democrats retain the seat, formerly held by the late Sen. Claire Celsi, and they have stopped Republicans from potentially regaining a supermajority in the Senate. “Our community made their voices heard tonight,” Hardman said. “You braved the weather, you ignored the noise and the nonsense … I am ready to work as your next senator.”

Hardman ran against Republican Lucas Loftin, who works for the forestry and environmental service company, Wright Service Corporation. Loftin and his wife are active in the homeschooling community.

Unofficial results posted by the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office showed Hardman with 71.5% of the vote to 28.5% for Loftin with all precincts reporting.

snip

Norbert

(7,544 posts)
8. Precursor to 2026?
Wed Dec 31, 2025, 07:34 AM
12 min ago

One Senate Seat with no incumbents because Ernst is not running. She won this seat by 6.5% in 2020.

Iowa has four seats in the lower house. In 2024, the GOP swept all four seats, but of the four, one seat was won by 4% and another seat by less than 1%.

If the 2025 trends continue in the new year, I like the odds of flipping two of the House seats and flipping the Senate seat is not out of the question either.

Please Dems, continue to overperform.

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